So I saw a lot of these posts going around the interwebs, and I thought I would contribute. I may only be 17, but my pre-adolescent days had enough moments to cringe over, so here we go – a letter to my 12 year old self.
Dear Me,
Uh, hi. It’s you, from the future. I’m still a pretty horrible role model and not as fiscally responsible as you’d like me to be. It’s been 5 years now, and a lot has changed. First and foremost, do not touch your eyebrows. This may seem vain, but I swear to you the mid 2000s will be an era full of luscious caterpillars.
Secondly, I know you’re really worried about making friends and looking pretty. Don’t sweat it! Take it from me, so long as you cut back on the gossip and remain loyal to your friends and family, you’ll do fine. As for the pretty thing – you grow out of that awkward phase of “I wore glasses and had bangs; both of which did not suit my face”. Now it sucks to say that when you get older, you’ll be faced with a lot of unfair stuff. Things like getting yelled at in the street, unwanted attention, and you’ll be hearing the phrase “boys will be boys” quite a bit. I’m sorry I couldn’t do much to change this for you, but I’m working on it.
You should also know that future you will be jealous of future 12 year olds. They never went through the “light wash flared jeans” phase (accompanied by your favourite too-short-at-the-sleeves velvet Hilary Duff shirt) – they went straight to pretty. If I could make them do their time in puberty jail I would, trust me.
One last thing. You may think that the worst habit you have is gossiping and being so unbelievably messy – its not. Your worst habit now and in the future will be comparing yourself to other people and endlessly seeking validation from them. Trust me when I say, you don’t need to. You have a few flaws and that’s fine! But know that you are you, and there’s only one of you, and that’s great! You don’t need to seek love and acceptance from other people (aka that one boy in middle school who had the personality of an Adidas sandal. You know who I’m talking about), and trust me, it gets so much easier when you get older to love yourself – flaws and all.
PS: I already know how you’ll end up – hi, I’m future you.
PPS: You’ll be fine.